Exclusive delivery of content within geographic areas

ABSTRACT

Application developers can request to have their applications registered for use with a content delivery platform. The operator of the content delivery platform establishes perimeters defining geographic areas, and maintains records reserving particular areas for delivery of content associated with particular sponsors. Registered applications running on mobile devices can request content from the content delivery platform. Based at least in part on the request, the content delivery platform can identify a target location, which may be the location of the mobile device, or some other location indicated in the request. A mobile device can be provided content based on the relationship of the target location to the geographic areas, so that a registered application running on a mobile device with a target location contained within a geographic area assigned to a particular sponsor will receive content related to that sponsor.

FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to delivery of content, and moreparticularly to delivery of content within reserved geographic areas.

BACKGROUND

Advertisements can be delivered to various devices, including mobiledevices, within communications range of areas transmitters or otherinformation providers. For example, advertisements can be delivered tocellular phones within range of a particular cellular phone provider'snetwork area. Furthermore, advertisements can be delivered using digitalbillboards, or via the Internet, based on user interactions andpreferences.

When delivering advertisements and other content to some mobile devices,currently available technologies can broadcast the content to alldevices equipped to receive them. In some cases, advertisements arebroadcast to any mobile device within a city, or a similar area. Whendelivering non-broadcast content, for example via the Internet, it iscommon to deliver the content in response to a request, received fromthe receiving device. In some cases, push technology can be used todeliver content to multiple users concurrently.

In each of these cases, a mobile device can usually receive content frommultiple different content providers. Current technologies are,therefore, less than perfect.

SUMMARY

Various embodiments disclosed herein include registering an applicationprogram for use with a content delivery platform, establishing multipleperimeters defining respective geographic areas, and maintaining recordsassociating sponsors with particular geographic areas. The contentdelivery platform can receive a request from a registered applicationprogram for content to be displayed on a mobile device, and the requestcan be used to determine a target location. In some embodiments, asponsor is selected based on a relationship between the target locationand one or more reserved geographic areas. Content is then provided tothe application program.

In some embodiments, the content delivery platform can record a requestidentifier associated with a received request, and provide the requestidentifier to the mobile device to assist in tracking future actionsrelating to the request for content. The content delivery platform canalso receive information related to user interaction with the providedcontent, including the request identifier, and provide additionalcontent in response to the received information.

Content can be delivered to a mobile device running a registeredapplication if a target location is at least partially within apredetermined radial distance of a geographical area associated with asponsor; if the mobile device is not located within the predeterminedradial distance, the radial distance can be increased. In someembodiments, content is delivered if the target location, e.g. thelocation of the mobile device or another location of interest, islocated entirely within a geographic area exclusively reserved by aparticular sponsor. In some embodiments, the content delivery platformcan select from among several sponsors in deciding which content todeliver to a mobile device.

In at least one embodiment, the content delivery system reservesexclusive interests in geographic areas for particular sponsors based onthe sponsors' requests, and store a record of that interest. In someembodiments, the content delivery system receives, from a sponsor,content to be delivered to mobile devices based on a target locationbeing positioned within particular geographic areas. The contentdelivery system can also reserve an interest in geographic areas thatremain unreserved by other sponsors. Furthermore, some embodimentsinclude time based restrictions.

Various embodiments can be implemented as a system that includes memory,a communications interface, and a processor that cooperate to store andexecute a program of instructions implementing various methods andtechniques described herein. Furthermore, some embodiments can beimplemented as a computer readable medium tangibly embodying a programof instructions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an abstract representation of exclusive content delivery toparticular reserved areas according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a target location other than thelocation of the mobile device executing a registered application,according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a graph representing expanded search areas to determine whichcontent is delivered according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of reserving a geographicarea according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating registration of an application forcontent delivery according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating delivery of content to particularapplications in a reserved area according to embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a processing system according toembodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide for deliveringcontent, such as advertising, to registered applications being run onany of various mobile electronic devices configured to be readily moved,carried, or otherwise transported between different various geographicareas defined by perimeters. Sponsors can reserve an exclusive interest,or in some embodiments a semi-exclusive interest, in a geographic area,so that other sponsors' advertisements are excluded from being broadcastor otherwise provided to a registered program being executed on a mobiledevice located within a reserved geographic area.

Referring first to FIG. 1, system 100, is illustrated. System 100 canprovide for exclusive delivery of advertising or other content toregistered applications running on mobile devices located within aparticular proximity to a reserved geographic area. System 100, asillustrated, includes content delivery platform 112, which is incommunication with developer platform 108, and systems or individualsoperating under control of sponsor A 121, sponsor C 123, and sponsor B125. Content delivery platform 112 receives a request from developerplatform 108 to register a program or other application for use onmobile devices. Content delivery platform 112 can use the registeredapplication program to provide selected content to mobile devices.

In some embodiments, a registered application program is provided tomobile devices by developer platform 108, content delivery platform 112,one of sponsor A 121, sponsor C 123, or sponsor B 125, or by anotherdesired delivery mechanism. In some embodiments, registering theapplication program with content delivery platform 112 allows developer108 to receive revenue from sponsor A 121, sponsor C 123, or sponsor B125 for content displayed on a mobile device located within, or inproximity to, a geographical area reserved by one or more of thesponsors.

Sponsor A 121, sponsor C 123, or sponsor B 125 can reserve an exclusiveinterest in a particular geographic area by sending a request to contentdelivery platform 112. In some embodiments, the request can be forexclusive delivery of content to mobile devices running any registeredapplication within given geographic areas, or for content to bedelivered to particular registered applications based on a targetlocation. The request can also include time limitations, limitationsbased on the length of time a mobile device remains within a givengeographic area, or other desired limitations. Furthermore, the reservedinterest can be either completely exclusive, or semi-exclusive.

System 100 can include a network, for example Internet 131, throughwhich content delivery platform 112, can communicate to other networkeddevices; and communication towers 144, which can include AM or FMbroadcast towers, mobile telephone stations, or other suitablecommunication infrastructure, including satellites (not illustrated)that might be useful in providing content based on a target location.Content delivery platform 112 can use this communication infrastructureto communicate with various computing devices, including portablecomputer 179, which may include laptop computers, desktop computers,palmtop computers, tablet computers, digital video recorders (DVRs),television set-top boxes, or any of various general or dedicated purposecomputers that can be carried or transported; wireless device 177, whichcan include personal digital assistants (PDAs), cellular telephones,personal communication system (PCS) devices, music players, videoplayers, gaming consoles, or portable televisions; or any of variousdevices that may be included in, or carried by, motor vehicles 171, 173,or 175, including navigation systems, satellite radios, or the like. Itshould be noted that the term “mobile device” can include all computingdevices as listed above that can communicate with content deliveryplatform 112, that the above listing of devices is not exhaustive, andthat a device that qualifies as one type of device may also beconsidered to be of another type. For example, a mobile phone may alsobe a general purpose computing device, a radio, a television, and anavigation system.

Still referring to FIG. 1, consider first motor vehicle 171, which islocated within sponsor A's reserved geographic area 143. A driver offirst motor vehicle 171 can receive advertisements or other content fromSponsor A via a registered application running on a radio, a PDA, acellular telephone, a laptop, or a global positioning navigation device(none of which are specifically illustrated). In this example, becausefirst motor vehicle 171 is located within sponsor A's reservedgeographic area 143, content delivery platform 121 provides contentexclusively related to sponsor A 121; advertisements or other contentfrom sponsor C 123 and sponsor B 125 can be excluded.

Portable computer 179 can be connected to Internet 131 via a hardwirednetwork connection, a Wi-Fi connection or other suitable communicationconnection. In some embodiments, if portable computer 179 is running aregistered program application, the user of portable computer 179 willreceive content related exclusively to sponsor A as long as he is withinsponsor A's reserved geographic area 143. In some embodiments, thedriver of first motor vehicle 171 and the user of laptop 179 will stillbe able to receive advertisements from other sponsors through devicesnot running a program that has been registered on content deliveryplatform 112, or through non-registered programs running on the samedevice.

In some embodiments, the location of mobile devices, or another targetlocation, can be determined using various suitable methods. For example,a mobile device running a registered application can provide locationinformation to content delivery platform 112 in the form of latitude orlongitude coordinates, raw or processed GPS data, or other locationinformation received and recorded by either the device itself or anotherdevice. In some embodiments, a target location, e.g. the location of amobile device, can be determined based on signals received from cellulartransmission towers, satellites, or methods such as triangulation ordead reckoning, or by IP address. Content delivery platform 112 canreceive the location of mobile devices from a third source, for examplea location provider, a cellular telephone network provider, or a thirdparty tracking source, rather than from the mobile device itself. Thus,the location of a mobile device can be received from the mobile device,determined by content delivery platform 112, received from a third-partysource, or determined based on a combination of these or other methods.

Sponsor A's reserved geographic area 143 illustrates an embodiment inwhich a perimeter can be defined by streets, county boundaries, cityboundaries, landmarks, or other features commonly found on maps. Incontrast, sponsor B's reserved geographic area 145 can be an ellipse,circle, oval, or other geometric shape that can be determined, at leastin part, based on a radius.

In this example, both second motor vehicle 173 and wireless device 177are located within sponsor B's reserved geographic area 145. The driverof second motor vehicle 173 and the user of wireless device 177 canreceive advertisements or other content via towers 144. For example, ifthe driver of second motor vehicle 173 is operating a navigation deviceexecuting an application program registered by developer 108,advertisements and other content received on the navigation device canbe determined based on the location within sponsor B's reservedgeographic area 145. Likewise, the user of wireless device 177 willreceive advertisements related to sponsor B from within a registeredapplication. In some embodiments, content delivery platform 112 canprevent content from sponsor A 121 and sponsor C 123 from beingdelivered to a mobile device carried by second motor vehicle 173 andwireless device 177, because both motor vehicle 173 and wireless device177 are located in sponsor B's reserved geographic area 145.

Turning next to sponsor A and sponsor C's reserved geographic area 147,note that the perimeter is a square, rectangle or similarly shaped. Insome embodiments, the perimeter may be defined entirely by longitude andlatitude lines and/or coordinates that constitute an area. In otherembodiments, sponsor A and sponsor C's reserved geographic area 147 canbe partially bounded by a longitude or latitude line, a road, river,railway, county, state, parish, city, locality, or other desiredboundary. In some embodiments, the perimeter of a sponsor A and sponsorC's reserved geographic area 147 can be defined by a combination oflongitude or latitude lines, with one or more remaining boundariesdefined based on radius or diameter.

Because third motor vehicle 175 is within sponsor A and sponsor C'sreserved geographic area 147, a mobile device carried by third motorvehicle 175 can receive advertising content from either or both sponsorA and sponsor C. In some embodiments, the interest in sponsor A andsponsor C's reserved geographic area 147 can be equally divided betweensponsor A 121 and sponsor C 123, while in other embodiments one ofsponsor A 121 and sponsor C 123 can have an interest superior to that ofthe other. In some embodiments, content delivery platform 112 candeliver advertisements or other content related to Sponsor A at selectedtimes, while content related to Sponsor C is delivered at other times.Additionally, content related to sponsor A may be delivered via a firstregistered application, while content related to sponsor C can bedelivered via a second registered application. Thus, sponsors canadvertise or provide other content to members of particular demographicsbased on a type of application a particular demographic is more likelyto use.

Referring next to FIG. 2, a target location other than a mobile devicein a system 200 is illustrated according to embodiments of the presentdisclosure. As shown in FIG. 2, a user of registered application 231 islocated within the perimeter defining first sponsor's reserved area 207.Object of interest 233 is located in second sponsor's reserved area 205.In some embodiments, object of interest 233 can be any type of object ofinterest to the user of registered application 231. For example, objectof interest 233 could be a friend of the user of registered application231, and this friend may be employing a mobile phone, a laptop, a kioskcomputer, a PDA, or any other device capable of sending locationinformation 216 directly or indirectly to registered application 231. Insome embodiments, target location information 216 can be any type ofinformation that can be used to determine the location of the object ofinterest 233. In at least one embodiment, target location information216 may be a geocoded twitter message. In another example, object ofinterest 233 could be an end destination on a map, and the locationinformation 216 of this end destination can be sent to registeredapplication 231.

In response to receiving the target location information 216 from objectof interest 233, registered application 231 can send a request 213 tocontent delivery platform 212. The request can include, but is notlimited to, information indicating the location of object of interest233, a request for content, information indicating the location ofregistered application 231, information indicating the identity of theregistered application 231, and a previously received requestidentifier.

Content delivery platform 212 can receive and process request 213 toidentify the location of registered application 231 and the location ofobject of interest 233. In some embodiments, both locations need not beidentified. Furthermore, in some embodiments the specific location neednot be identified, as long as a determination that object of interest233 is located within a given proximity of second sponsor's reservedarea 205, or that registered application 231 is located within firstsponsor's reserved area 207.

Content delivery platform 212 can provide registered applicationinformation 217 to second sponsor 225 to allow second sponsor 225 todeliver second sponsor's content 214 to registered application 231. Theregistered application information 217 can be an application identifier,a request identifier, a target location, a communications address, orother information that can be utilized by second sponsor 225. In someembodiments, application information 217 need not be provided to secondsponsor 225, but instead can be processed internally by content deliveryplatform 212, and a determination can be made for second sponsor'scontent 214 to be delivered directly to application 231 from contentdelivery platform 212, or a third party (not illustrated).

Note that in the illustrated embodiment, despite the fact thatregistered application 231 is located within first sponsor's reservedarea 207, the information delivered to registered application 231 can becontent related exclusively to second sponsor's reserved area 205, inwhich object of interest 233 is located. This is because, in theillustrated embodiment, the target location is the location of object ofinterest 233, rather than the location of a mobile device executingregistered application 231.

In some embodiments, information from the first sponsor can also bedelivered to registered application 231, because the locations of thedevice running registered application 231 and object of interest 233 areboth considered target locations. Furthermore, in some embodimentscontent need not be delivered directly from second sponsor 225, butinstead can be provided by content delivery platform 212, or a thirdparty (not illustrated).

Referring next to FIG. 3, a graph showing various geographic areas withreference to longitude and latitude is illustrated according to someembodiments of the present disclosure. The geographic areas in FIG. 3are for illustration only and carry no particular significance withrespect to their geometric shapes. Graph 300 includes a triangular area320, reserved for sponsor A; pentagonal area 371, reserved for sponsorG; and octagonal area 330, also reserved for sponsor G. In theillustrated example, sponsor G has two physical addresses: G1 327, whichlies within sponsor G's reserved octagonal area 330, and G2 328 which,lies within sponsor A's reserved triangular area 320. Furthermore, inthe illustrated embodiment, sponsor A does not have a physical locationwithin sponsor A's reserved triangular area 320. These examples helpillustrate that there is not necessarily a correlation between asponsor's physical address and a reserved geographic area, although insome embodiments there may be such a correlation.

As illustrated by FIG. 3, a single target location F 333 is locatedwithin sponsor G's reserved octagonal area 330, and target location F333 can be a mobile device running a registered application, or targetlocation F 333 can represent a target location other than the locationof a mobile device, as illustrated in FIG. 2. In some embodiments, themobile device with target location F 333 receives advertisingexclusively from advertiser G.

As further illustrated by FIG. 3, there are four target locations:target location A 321, target location B 323, target location C 325, andtarget location G 392 within advertiser A's reserved triangular area320. Note also, however, that target location G 392 also lies within oneof sponsor G's reserved geographic areas, pentagonal area 371. Considerthe following example in which target location A 321 and target locationB 323 each are mobile devices executing a first application registeredwith a content delivery platform, such as content delivery platform 112,of FIG. 1. Further assume, for purposes of this example, that targetlocation C 325 is a mobile device executing a second, differentapplication, which is also registered with the content deliveryplatform. Because both the first and second applications are registeredwith the content delivery platform, each of the three devices, withtarget location A 321 target location B 323 and target location C 325can receive advertisements or other content from within their respectiveapplications. In this example, the content delivered to all threedevices can be related exclusively to sponsor A, regardless of whichregistered application is being executed, because sponsor A has the onlyreserved interest in the portions of triangular area 320 occupied bymobile devices having target locations A 321 B 323 and C 325.

In some embodiments, target location G 392 can be a mobile devicerunning two or more registered applications, and can receive contentrelated to sponsor A, because the mobile device lies within triangulararea 320. But, target location G 392 also lies within pentagonal area371, and the mobile device can therefore receive content associated withsponsor G. In some embodiments, content related to sponsor A can bedelivered via one of the registered applications, while anotherregistered application receives and displays content related to sponsorG. In other embodiments, one of sponsor A or sponsor G can have asuperior interest to the other, and a preference can be given to thatsponsor's content for delivery. For example, sponsor G may have asuperior interest in pentagonal area 371, which also forms part oftriangular area 320. In such a case, if content related to sponsor G isavailable for delivery to the application on the mobile device withtarget location G 392, that content will be delivered in preference tocontent related to sponsor A. However, if there is no high prioritycontent related to sponsor G to be delivered, content related to sponsorA may be provided in its stead. Various other priority and time sharingmechanisms and methods can be implemented according to the teachings setforth herein. Note that in some embodiments, multiple registeredapplications are not required to implement priority and time sharingmechanisms.

In some instances, a mobile device can have target locations, such astarget location D 324 or target location E 356, located outside of areasreserved by sponsors. In such a case, a check can be made to determineif either target location D 340 or target location E 356 are locatedwithin a given proximity of a sponsor-reserved area such as triangulararea 320 or octagonal area 330. So, for example, a check can be made todetermine whether any reserved areas lie within a given radius of targetlocation D 340, defining a search area 341, or within a given radius oftarget location E 356, defining a search area 351. In some embodiments,if no sponsor reserved area intersects an area within an initially smallradius, further checks can be performed by incrementally increasing theradius. So, for example, after a first check finds no advertiserreserved areas within search areas 341 or 351, the search areas can beincreased to encompass areas 343 and 353, respectively.

In the illustrated example, there is no reserved area intersectingsearch area 353, but sponsor H 357 has a physical address within area353. In some embodiments, once it is determined that a registeredsponsor has a physical address location within a search radius, butthere are no sponsor reserved geographic areas in proximity to orencompassing a target location, an advertisement or other content can bedelivered to a mobile device, such as the device with target location356.

Another situation arises when there are no sponsor reserved geographicareas intersecting a search area, but there are multiple sponsorphysical locations within a given radius. Consider area 343, whichcontains sponsor E's location 349, and sponsor F's location 347. Becauseneither sponsor E nor sponsor F has established a reserved area thatintersects with search area 343, a random choice can be made betweenthese two sponsors to determine which sponsor's content to provide tothe registered application on the device with target location D 340. Inother embodiments, preference may be given to one of sponsor E'slocation 349 and sponsor F's location 347 based on each physicallocations' proximity to target location D 340, based on a travel timebetween the device with target location D 340 and the sponsors'locations, or based on some other desired parameter. In furtherembodiments, if no sponsor's reserved geographic area intersects anyportion of area 343, no content is sent to mobile device D with targetlocation 340, despite the fact that location sponsor E's location 359,and sponsor F's location 347 are both within the perimeter definingsearch area 343.

In some embodiments, the search radius can continue to be expanded untila search area 345 intersects with a sponsor reserved geographic area. Inthe illustrated embodiment, search area 345 intersects sponsor A'sreserved triangular area 320. Note that sponsor G2's physical location328 is also located within search area 345. In some embodiments, contentfrom either sponsor A or sponsor G can be selected using any of variousprocesses, because target location D 340 is not located entirely withintriangular area 320. In some embodiments, however, because the expandedsearch area 345 encompasses even a portion of sponsor A's reservedtriangular area 320, content related to sponsor G will be excluded, andcontent related to sponsor A will be exclusively provided to mobiledevice with target location D 340. In some embodiments, because targetlocation D 340 is not located within sponsor A's reserved triangulararea 320, content related to sponsor A will be excluded, and contentrelated to sponsor G will be exclusively provided to mobile device withtarget location D 340.

Additional techniques accounting for the proximity of exclusivelyreserved advertising areas and sponsor's physical locations with respectto mobile device locations can be implemented according to the teachingset forth herein. For example, in some embodiments, sponsors may obtainan interest in all otherwise unreserved geographic areas. For example, acontent delivery system can deliver content from a “default” sponsor, ifit is determined that no other content is to be delivered to a mobiledevice.

Referring next to FIG. 4, a method 400 for allowing sponsors to reserveparticular geographic areas will be discussed according to embodimentsof the present disclosure. Method 400 begins, as illustrated by block401. As illustrated by block 403, a content delivery platform, forexample content delivery platform 112 as illustrated in FIG. 1, canreceive a request for sponsor registration, which can also includereceiving physical address location from the sponsor. As illustrated byblock 405, the sponsor can establish perimeters defining geographicareas of exclusive or semi-exclusive control. These geographic areas areareas the sponsor wishes to reserve for delivery of his ownadvertisements or other content controlled by the sponsor.

The perimeters established can be based on map features, such asstreets, rivers, landmarks, or any of the other various map features.The perimeters can also be defined by latitude and longitude, or variousgeometric constructs having a given relative position to either a pointlocation, a map location, a physical address, or otherwise. Someembodiments allow for establishing perimeters defining areas based on acombination of the various types of constructs. So, for example,latitude, longitude and map features may be used to establish thereserved area, or a combination of coordinates and geometric constructscan be used in conjunction with other suitable boundary identifiers toestablish an area that may be reserved specifically for content relatedto a particular advertiser or sponsor.

In some embodiments, the perimeters may be generated interactively,using sponsor established perimeter definitions, or other unique sponsorrequests. Some embodiments employ pre-defined areas, or allow selectionof areas based on predetermined factors, and present sponsors a choicefrom among previously established options.

As illustrated by block 407, a sponsor's request for a selected area isreceived. As illustrated by block 409, a check is made to determine ifthe selected area, or a portion of the selected area, has already beenreserved by another sponsor. If the area selected by the sponsor isalready owned or is otherwise unavailable, method 400 may return toblock 407, and the sponsor can choose another area. In some embodiments,overlap of various sponsor areas may be allowed based on type ofbusiness, type of application used to deliver the content, or otherwise.

As illustrated by block 411, if an area selected for exclusive orsemi-exclusive content delivery is available, the selected geographicarea can be reserved for the sponsor. And as illustrated by block 413,the sponsor can be notified that an interest in the geographic area hasbeen reserved for him.

A sponsor can provide content for delivery to mobile devices havingtarget locations contained within its reserved area, as illustrated byblock 415. This content can include advertisements, still image content,animated content, video content, audio content, alphanumericidentifiers, or other content suitable for delivery to mobile devicesvia registered applications. As illustrated by block 417, the contentreceived from the sponsor can be stored for later delivery to registeredapplications running on mobile devices having target locations thatexist within the sponsor's reserved area, which such target locationsmay include, but are not limited to, when the mobile device or targetlocation physically enters or remains within the sponsor's reserved areafor a desired length of time. In some embodiments, content can bedelivered to a mobile device by the sponsor or another party in responseto a notification that the mobile device or target location has enteredor is contained within the sponsor's reserved area. Method 400 ends, asillustrated at block 419.

Referring next to FIG. 5, a method 500 of registering an applicationprogram for use in conjunction with a content delivery platform isillustrated according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.Method 500 begins as illustrated by block 501. As illustrated by block503, an application can be registered on a content delivery platform inresponse to a request by a developer, for example developer 108 asillustrated in FIG. 1. As illustrated by block 505, a request forcontent can be received from a device running a registered application.In some embodiments, the same registered application may be executed onany of various mobile devices, including mobile telephones, personaldigital assistants, laptops, and the like. Furthermore, multiple devicesmay execute copies of the same registered application, multipledifferent registered applications may be executed on a single mobiledevice, and multiple different registered applications may be executedon multiple devices.

As illustrated by block 507 a determination is made as to whether theapplication sending the request for content has a target location thatis located within a sponsor's reserved geographic area. In someembodiments, the target location may be the location of the device. Insome embodiments, the target location may be a location other than thelocation of the device, as illustrated in FIG. 2. As illustrated byblock 509, if the target location is located within a sponsor's reservedarea, content from the corresponding sponsor can be chosen for deliveryto the mobile device. The content can be chosen based on a number ofdifferent parameters or combinations of parameters. In some embodiments,different sponsors may designate particular content to be provided ondifferent days of the week or at different times of day. Some suchembodiments allow a single geographic area to be shared by differentadvertisers or sponsors. For example, content associated with a firstsponsor may be selected for delivery in a particular geographic areaduring the lunch hour, while content related to a second sponsor isselected for delivery in that same geographic area between the hours ofmidnight and 2 am.

In some embodiments, content from one sponsor can be selected fordelivery in a particular geographic area in specific situations, eventhough a different sponsor has generally reserved that same geographicarea. For example, content from a first sponsor can be delivered duringa football game to mobile devices located in a geographic area normallyreserved by a second sponsor, effectively trumping content related tothe second sponsor that would otherwise be delivered. In someembodiments, additional criteria can be applied to determine whichsponsors' content will be provided to mobile devices in a particulargeographic area.

As illustrated by block 511, selected content can be provided to anapplication for display on a mobile device. In at least one embodiment,different content from the same sponsor can be provided to the samedevice for display within different applications, or the same contentfrom the same sponsor can be displayed for all mobile devices runningall registered applications that have target locations within thedelivery area for the content. For example, a first program run on amobile device may display a first advertisement within that programwhile a second program running on the same device may display a secondadvertisement, which is different from the first advertisement. In someembodiments in which an interest in a particular geographic area isshared between multiple sponsors, a primary sponsor's content can beexclusively displayed via a first registered application running on aparticular mobile device, while content from other sponsors can bedisplayed via a second and subsequent applications running on the samemobile device.

As illustrated by block 513, if the target location is not within asponsor's reserved area, a determination can be made regarding whetherat least one sponsor's presence is within a first predetermined radiusof the target location. In some embodiments, a determination is maderegarding whether a sponsor's physical location is within apredetermined radius of the target location. In some embodiments, adetermination is made regarding whether a sponsor's geographic area, ora portion of a sponsor's geographic area, is contained within apredetermined radius of the target location. If at least one sponsor'spresence is within a predetermined radius of the target location, asponsor is chosen from a random or pseudo-random process, as illustratedby block 519. Content is then selected for delivery, as illustrated byblock 509. As illustrated by block 515, if a sponsor's presence is notwithin a predetermined radius of the target location, the search radiuscan be increased. As illustrated by block 517, a check can be made todetermine whether any more increases should be made. In someembodiments, the search radius can continue to be increasedincrementally, in a logarithmic manner, or otherwise, until at least aportion of a sponsor's reserved area intersects the search area definedby the search radius. In some embodiments, the search radius can beincreased a predetermined number of times, or can be limited based onsystem resources, time constraints, or other desired parameters. Theprocesses illustrated by blocks 513, 515, and 517 can be repeated untila positive indication is produced by the process at block 517.

As illustrated by block 519, content from a randomly or pseudo-randomlyselected sponsor can be delivered to a mobile device if the targetlocation is not within a desired proximity to a sponsor's reserved area.In some embodiments, rather than delivering content randomly, contentselections can be made based on desired criteria. Content related to asponsor that reserved all otherwise unallocated space can be deliveredto a mobile device executing a registered application. In some suchembodiments, if any particular geographic areas have not yet beenreserved, or if any device requesting content does not have a targetlocation contained within a reserved geographic area, the defaultsponsor's content can be delivered to the mobile device. Method 500 endsas illustrated by block 521.

Preferring next to FIG. 6, a method of interaction between a mobiledevice and a content providing platform is illustrated according tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 600 begins asillustrated by block 601. As illustrated by block 603 an applicationplatform key can be provided to a developer in response to the developerregistering an application for use on the application platform. Thedeveloper can, in turn, provide the key to mobile devices on which theregistered application is installed. As illustrated by block 605, when amobile device requests content from the content providing platform, themobile device can send the key along with its request. As illustrated byblock 607, the content providing platform can verify that the keymatches a valid key stored in its database, or elsewhere, beforeproviding content to the application.

In some embodiments, key verification can be performed by an entityother than the content providing platform. As illustrated by block 627,if a verification check on the key fails, no content is provided to therequesting application, and the method 600 ends.

As illustrated by block 609, if the key is validated a session can beinitiated between the application on the mobile device, and the contentdelivery platform. As illustrated by block 611 in at least oneembodiment, the application running on the mobile device sends themobile device's location, or another target location, to the contentdelivery platform. However, in some embodiments the actual location isnot sent by the device, but may be provided to the content deliveryplatform from another source. Furthermore, the content deliveryplatform, or a subsystem of a communications system employed by thecontent delivery platform, can determine the location of the mobiledevice based on raw, partially, or completely processed informationreceived from the mobile device or from another source. For example, themobile device can forward information associated with a target locationto the content delivery platform, or the content delivery server canobtain location information from a third party application or device,from a home location register (HLR), from a visiting location register(VLR), from raw, differential, processed or semi-processed GPS data,from power signals used in code-division multiple access (CDMA) or otherwireless communications systems, or otherwise.

As illustrated by block 613, the content delivery platform records therequest from the registered application in a request identifier in theplatform database, or some other suitable storage location. The requestidentifier can be used in some embodiments to track further interactionwith the registered application, or to deliver additional content to arequesting mobile device. Thus, in some embodiments, a mobile device orother target location that is only temporarily located within aparticular sponsor's reserved geographic area may continue to receiveinformation from that sponsor after the mobile device, or the targetlocation, exits the sponsor's reserved area. In other embodiments,content related to a sponsor is discontinued in response to a mobiledevice exiting, or the target location losing focus within, thesponsor's reserved area.

As illustrated by block 615, the content delivery platform can deliverthe request identifier to the requesting application along with therequested content. As illustrated by block 617, a user of the mobiledevice can interact with the provided content using any of variousmethods such as pressing a button, selecting a user selectable object ona graphical user interface, or otherwise. The application on the mobiledevice can send an indication of the interaction to the content deliveryplatform via the same communication channel used to send the request, orvia a different communications channel.

As illustrated by block 619, a registered application running on amobile device can send an additional information request to the platformusing the previously assigned request identifier. In some embodiments,using the previously assigned platform request identifier permitstracking of a series of interactions between a particular applicationand the content delivery platform. Furthermore, using the requestidentifier can allow individualized content to be delivered to differentregistered applications which may or may not be running on the samemobile device.

As illustrated by block 621, a determination is made regarding whether arequest identifier sent in conjunction with a request for furtherinformation is maintained in the platform database or other suitablestorage. As illustrated by block 623, if the request identifier iscontained in the database or other storage area, the content deliveryplatform can update a request identifier record as being complete. Andas illustrated by block 625, the content delivery platform can delivermore content to the requesting application. As illustrated by block 627,method 600 can proceed to end after delivering the additional content.

The methods and processes discussed previously, as well as otherembodiments, may be implemented in a processing system executing a setof instructions stored in memory, or on a removable computer readablemedium. An example of a system according to some embodiments isillustrated in FIG. 7. Referring now to FIG. 7, a high-level blockdiagram of a processing system is illustrated and discussed. Processingsystem 700 includes one or more central processing units, such as CPU A705 and CPU B 707, which may be conventional microprocessorsinterconnected with various other units via at least one system bus 710.CPU A 705 and CPU B 707 may be separate cores of an individual,multi-core processor, or individual processors connected via aspecialized bus 711. In some embodiments, CPU A 705 or CPU B 707 may bea specialized processor, such as a graphics processor, otherco-processor, or the like.

Processing system 700 includes random access memory (RAM) 720; read-onlymemory (ROM) 715, wherein the ROM 715 could also be erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM) or electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EEPROM); and input/output (I/O) adapter725, for connecting peripheral devices such as disk units 730, opticaldrive 736, or tape drive 737 to system bus 710; a user interface adapter740 for connecting keyboard 745, mouse 750, speaker 755, microphone 760,or other user interface devices to system bus 710; communicationsadapter 765 for connecting processing system 700 to an informationnetwork such as the Internet or any of various local area networks, widearea networks, telephone networks, or the like; and display adapter 770for connecting system bus 710 to a display device such as monitor 775.Mouse 750 has a series of buttons 780, 785 and may be used to control acursor shown on monitor 775.

It will be understood that processing system 700 may include othersuitable data processing systems without departing from the scope of thepresent disclosure. For example, processing system 700 may include bulkstorage and cache memories, which provide temporary storage of at leastsome program code in order to reduce the number of times code must beretrieved from bulk storage during execution.

Various disclosed embodiments can be implemented in hardware, software,or a combination containing both hardware and software elements. In oneor more embodiments, the invention is implemented in software, whichincludes but is not limited to firmware, resident software, microcode,etc. Some embodiments may be realized as a computer program product, andmay be implemented as a computer-usable or computer-readable mediumembodying program code for use by, or in connection with, a computer, aprocessor, or other suitable instruction execution system.

For the purposes of this description, a computer-usable or computerreadable medium can be any apparatus that can contain, store,communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or inconnection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.By way of example, and not limitation, computer readable media maycomprise any of various types of computer storage media, includingvolatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implementedin any suitable method or technology for storage of information such ascomputer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, orother data. Computer storage media include, but are not limited to, RAM,ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digitalversatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices,or any other medium which can be used to store the desired informationand which can be accessed by a computer. Data structures andtransmission of data (including wireless transmission) particular toaspects of the disclosure are also encompassed within the scope of thedisclosure.

Various embodiments have been described for delivering content relatedto a commercial media program. Other variations and modifications of theembodiments disclosed may be made based on the description provided,without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: registering a plurality of application programs for use with a content delivery platform, wherein the plurality of registered application programs are each associated with at least one application program type; establishing a plurality of perimeters defining a plurality of geographic areas; reserving delivery of content from a plurality of sponsors to the plurality of registered application programs on the basis of both a geographic area and an application program type associated with each of the plurality of registered application programs; receiving, from a sponsor, a request to obtain an interest in a selected one of the plurality of geographic areas; providing the sponsor a response to the request; storing a record of the interest in the selected one of the plurality of geographic areas; receiving, from the sponsor, content to be delivered to registered application programs having target locations contained within the selected one of the plurality of geographic areas; receiving, from a registered application program, a request for content to be used within the registered application program; in response to receiving the request: selecting content from at least one sponsor to be delivered to the registered application program, subject to the reserving; and providing the content from the at least one sponsor to the registered application program.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: recording a request identifier associated with the request; and providing the request identifier to the registered application program.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: receiving information related to user interaction with the provided content, the information including the request identifier; and providing additional content to the registered application in response to the received information.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining whether at least one of the plurality of sponsors is associated with a geographical representation lying at least partially within a predetermined radial distance of a target location; in response to a negative determination, increasing the predetermined radial distance.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: reserving a specific one of the plurality of geographic areas for exclusive delivery of content associated with a particular one of the plurality of sponsors to registered application programs and having a target location contained within the specific one of the plurality of geographic areas.
 6. A system comprising: memory; a communications interface operably coupled to the memory; and at least one processor operably coupled to the memory and the communications interface, the processor configured to execute a program of instructions, the program of instructions comprising: at least one instruction to register a plurality of application programs for use with a content delivery platform, wherein the plurality of registered application programs are each associated with at least one application program type; at least one instruction to establish a plurality of perimeters defining a plurality of geographic areas; at least one instruction to maintain at least one record indicating content delivery reservations associating each of a plurality of sponsors with specific registered application program types and at least one of the plurality of geographic areas; at least one instruction to receive, from a sponsor, a request to obtain an interest in a selected one of the plurality of geographic areas; at least one instruction to provide the sponsor a response to the request; at least one instruction to store a record of the interest in the selected one of the plurality of geographic areas; at least one instruction to receive, from the sponsor, content to be delivered to registered application programs having target locations contained within the selected one of the plurality of geographic areas; at least one instruction to receive a request from a registered application program for content to be used within the registered application program; at least one instruction to select content associated with at least one of the plurality of sponsors, to be delivered to the registered application program of a specific type, in accordance with a content delivery reservation associating the at least one sponsor with a geographic area and a registered application program type; and at least one instruction to provide the selected content to the registered application program.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the program of instructions further comprises: at least one instruction to record a request identifier associated with the request; and at least one instruction to provide the request identifier to the registered application program.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the program of instructions further comprises: at least one instruction to receive information related to user interaction with the provided content, the information including the request identifier; and at least one instruction to provide additional content to the registered application in response to the received information.
 9. The system of claim 6, wherein the program of instructions further comprises: at least one instruction to determine whether at least one of the plurality of sponsors is associated with a geographical representation lying at least partially within a predetermined radial distance of a target location; and at least one instruction to increase the predetermined radial distance in response to the at least one instruction to determine.
 10. The system of claim 6, wherein the program of instructions further comprises: at least one instruction to reserve a specific one of the plurality of geographic areas for exclusive delivery of content associated with a particular one of the plurality of sponsors to registered application programs and having a target location contained within the specific one of the plurality of geographic areas.
 11. A non-transitory computer readable medium tangibly embodying a program of computer executable instructions, the program of instructions comprising: at least one instruction to register a plurality of application programs for use with a content delivery platform, wherein the plurality of registered application programs are each associated with at least one application program type; at least one instruction to establish a plurality of perimeters defining respective geographic areas; at least one instruction to maintain at least one record indicating content delivery reservations associating each of a plurality of sponsors with specific registered application program types and at least one of the plurality of geographic areas; at least one instruction to receive, from a sponsor, a request to obtain an interest in a selected one of the plurality of geographic areas; at least one instruction to provide the sponsor a response to the request; at least one instruction to store a record of the interest in the selected one of the plurality of geographic areas; at least one instruction to receive, from the sponsor, content to be delivered to application programs having target locations contained within the selected one of the plurality of geographic areas; at least one instruction to receive a request from a registered application program for content to be used within the registered application program; at least one instruction to select content associated with at least one of the plurality of sponsors to be delivered to the registered application program of a specific type, in accordance with a content delivery reservation associating the at least one sponsor with a geographic area and a registered application program type; and at least one instruction to provide the selected content to the registered application program.
 12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the program of instructions further comprises: at least one instruction to record a request identifier associated with the request; and at least one instruction to provide the request identifier to the registered application program.
 13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the program of instructions further comprises: at least one instruction to receive information related to user interaction with the provided content, the information including the request identifier; and at least one instruction to provide additional content to the registered application in response to the received information.
 14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the program of instructions further comprises: at least one instruction to determine whether at least one of the plurality of sponsors is associated with a geographical representation lying at least partially within a predetermined radial distance of a target location; and at least one instruction to increase the predetermined radial distance in response to a negative determination.
 15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the program of instructions further comprises: at least one instruction to reserve a specific one of the plurality of geographic areas for exclusive delivery of content associated with a particular one of the plurality of sponsors to application programs and having a target location contained within the specific one of the plurality of geographic areas. 